Contents

Use of Magic

Use of Magic is the ability to harness magic to cast spells; however, the use of dark magic has corrupting effects on the user due to the person continuously reliving a moment that made them sieve with anger in the past. Powerful magical practitioners like the Black Fairy, Cora, Regina, Rumplestiltskin, Jafar and Zelena become corrupted by their powers and in turn, their magic turned tainted as well. Not all magical practitioners are corrupted, however, such as fairies, but they are exceptions because they cannot use magic in negative ways, instead of choosing to not do so. But if they do choose to do so, their pure and light fairy magic becomes corrupted and their magic and the user themself becomes dark. ("The Price of Magic", "The Black Fairy")

Magic can be used to override the usual laws of nature, physics, and reality, but it always comes with a price. It is inherently neutral and cannot itself be split into Good or Evil, but can be used for either purpose. Since magic use is powered by emotion, the strength of the spell depends on the feelings of the caster focused into the output of magic. Negative emotions are generally used to power spells while positive emotions are used to maintain control of spells.("The Miller's Daughter")

However magic can be split into Light and Dark, forms of magic that are powered by positive or negative emotions, thus a manifestation of the wielder's will. However positive emotions do not equal goodness as a mage's attempt to protect one's loved one can result in a person's death. ("Kansas")

Laws of Magic

The Laws of Magic define the limits of magical abilities. There are three restrictions even the most powerful magic is said to be unable to break: bring back the dead, force someone to fall in love and change the past. However, these laws can and have been broken and changed by powerful spells.

One of them is the Spell of the Three Genies, the combined power of three genies who have themselves overridden fate, even makes the caster immune to the price of magic. After enacted, the user is free to break any laws of magic. ("And They Lived...")

Changing the Past

When the Evil Queen wished that Emma's wish, to have never been the Savior, be granted, due to the laws of magic preventing someone from changing the past, an alternate reality was created from the wish and Emma was sent there with false memories. In this alternate reality, the Evil Queen was defeated and banished by King David and Queen Snow before she could cast the Dark Curse, and Emma grew up as a defenseless princess. ("Wish You Were Here")

Love Manipulation

The Curse of the Empty-Hearted is used to make someone love you. However, the effect is only an illusion, because the user only thinks they love them, and with enough desperation of love, the person might just believe it. ("Welcome to Storybrooke")

Due to the Dark Curse giving people new personalities, lives and memories, the people affected by it might only believe they love someone.

In one instance of a proper resurrection, Maleficent is revived after combining the blood of those who greatly wronged her with her ashes. In this case however, Maleficent was undead, allowing for a restoration to human form that did not break the laws. However, Maleficent later explains that she would turn back to ashes if she left Storybrooke, since there was no magic beyond the town border. ("Unforgiven", "Mother")

Another exception to the laws is that the Dark One is able to be resurrected from the vault if they die via some other way than the Dark One Dagger. However, the price of this magic is another's life. ("Quiet Minds")

Also, the blood of a person that has died and come back to life can be used in conjunction with a portal to the Underworld to summon one or more dead people from the Underworld. However, their stay would only be temporary, unless a living soul takes their place thanks to the Mark of Charon, or if they are somehow able to take the heart of a living soul.

Another exception to the law - and the only instance of a true resurrection without any price - is when the godZeus, ruler of Mount Olympus, resurrected Killian Jones after he had passed on from the Underworld, and was sent back to Storybrooke fully alive again. ("Last Rites")

The Resurrection Amulet can also "resurrect" a person in exchange for the life of another person but only if the soul of the person being revived has not entered the afterlife. Gothel could revive Lucy in exchange for Victoria's life only because Lucy has not fully died yet. She also planned using it on Madame Leota to make her regain her original form. ("Secret Garden")

Price of Magic

The Price of Magic is the inevitable expense for using or casting magic. Often stated as a warning that "magic always comes with a price", but sometimes, the price is not foreseeable. Rumplestiltskin's curse has the heaviest penalty for gaining his Dark One powers. While the magic allows him to accumulate masses of power, it not only binds his loyalty to a dagger, but also corrupts and injures him both physically and emotionally. ("Desperate Souls", "Skin Deep", "The Apprentice", "Heart of Gold")

Other prices include the Evil Queen's sacrifice of her father's life to unleash the Dark Curse upon the Enchanted Forest. In doing so, she creates a void in her soul that can never be filled. At another time, Regina's attempt to outsmart and get rid of Emma by putting her under a Sleeping Curse backfires, as Mr. Gold predicted, when Henry is afflicted with the curse instead. Even Mr. Gold himself, who knows all too well there's always a price to pay, brought magic to Storybrooke, which returned his powers, but the cost forces a barrier around town to form, preventing him from leaving to find his son with his Enchanted Forest memories intact. ("The Thing You Love Most", "A Land Without Magic", "We Are Both")

Whenever someone doesn't pay the price of healing someone on the brink of death with magic, the formerly afflicted person may be hunted down by Furies, who are sent to take them to the Underworld. For example: when Emma, as the Dark One, saved Robin Hood's life as a favor to Regina, the price of saving Robin's life is for someone to die and it was Regina who was supposed to pay the price. However, since the God of the Underworld, Hades, died, things have changed down in the Underworld and it seems like the Furies doesn't collect any unpaid price of magic anymore. As Emma clearly healedAshley Boyd who was on the brink of death and Emma was not hunted by any Fury. ("The Price", "Last Rites", "The Other Shoe")

Negative Connotations of Magic

Despite its many capabilities and usefulness, as well as its existence everywhere, many individuals have expressed fear and hatred of it. Either because they know of its danger or they are aware of the price of magic.

Physical Description

Magic itself often manifests as a puff of smoke or sparkling dust, which can vary in colors, depending on the practitioner. Purple seems to be the most common color for the smoke manifestation of magic in general. The color varies according to the wielder and/or the form of magic: for instance, most of the time a person sticks to one color no matter their location (although there are certain instances where, due to unknown reason, their magic color is different). Furthermore, the Dark Curse typically manifests as a very large black cloudy storm in shades of purple and green.

When an object is conjured,it is often accompanied by a cloud of smoke, such as when Rumplestiltskin creates Cinderella's Glass Slippers in "The Price of Gold", when Zelena conjures a rag in "It's Not Easy Being Green", or when Emma produces a piece of paper in "Best Laid Plans". However, it is also possible to conjure without smoke, such as when Mr. Gold creates a necklace for Lacey in "Lacey".

It is also possible to make an object vanish into thin air, like when Regina makes Henry's stick of dynamite disappear, or when Mr. Gold rips out Keith's tongue and allows it to disappear completely.

Conjuration can also be used to create a copy of something else, like when Emma conjures a copy of a page from Henry's storybook. However, an experienced practitioner of witchcraft, can tell if it's a forgery. ("Best Laid Plans")

Practitioners of magic are able to use fireballs without conjuring them: They can also pull fire out of a source such as a fireplace and shape it into a ball, like when Regina pulls fire from Maleficent's fireplace during their duel, and when Emma sets the Magic Wardrobe on fire and Cora pulls the fire into her hand and launched it at Emma. ("The Thing You Love Most", "Lady of the Lake")

Pyrokinesis seems to be one of the more basic forms of witchcraft. When Regina teaches Emma magic and when Cora instructs the Red Queen, they both start by teaching them how to create fire. When Rumplestiltskin gives Regina lessons, pyrokinesis is one of the first things that he teaches her. ("Dark Hollow", "Heart of the Matter", "Kansas")

Two sorcerers are able to combine their fireballs to create a bigger and more powerful fireball, like when Cora and Regina combined their fireballs to break the Protection Spell cast on Mr. Gold's shop. ("The Miller's Daughter")

Zelena has displayed the ability to conjure different colored fireballs, more specifically green fireballs, which stayed green from "Our Decay" onward.

What the werewolves like Red Riding Hood/Ruby, Anita, Adair, Adalyn and Granny use; what dragons like the Dragon, Maleficent and Lily use; and what the Siren and the Shadow use to shapeshift is not Witchcraft or anything like that, but a special ability.

Practitioners of this ability usually use it to choke or strangle their victims, by applying force to their throat. While this use is mostly used to simply grip and squeeze the neck without touching it, it has also been used to lift a victim off the ground by the neck. The Evil Queen, Zelena, Rumplestiltskin, The Black Fairy, Jafar, The Snow Queen, Gideon and Emma Swan have all been seen using this technique. ("Where Bluebirds Fly")

A rare form of transformation is alchemy, which involves transforming plant matter into gold. Rumplestiltskin, Cora and Merlin are the only people known to have this skill. ("That Still Small Voice" et al., "The Miller's Daughter", "Nimue")

Trivia

On-Screen Notes

According to visual effects supervisor Andrew Orloff, magic on Once Upon a Time is an elemental force that can be harnessed. This is the reason why magic involves smoke, fire, dirt, wind and water. For example, when Cora pulls Regina off the horse in "We Are Both", she doesn't telekinetically lift Regina off the horse, but instead makes the trees reach out with their branches. Another example is when the Evil Queen throws a fireball in "The Thing You Love Most", she pulls the fire from the fireplace and shapes it in her hand.[81] She also attempts to pull fire from her fireplace in "The Song in Your Heart" when Snow White and Prince Charming's song weakens her power, dampening her ability to conjure fire out of thin air.

Props Notes

You are ready to use your ownmagical ability. You must be able toconcentrate. You must be able tofocus intensity and visualize themagic. What you want to happenmust be perfectly clear in your mind.

In performing a magical act, you will build up a massivecone of energy with your powers at intention, then whenthat energy is at its zenith, you will send it out to workfor you and effect physical changes in the materialrealm.

I feel the need to remind you of the [two illegible words]principle: whatever energy or intention is sent out,whether it be ill or good, it will be returned to you inkind, three-fold. If you send out positive energies you willwill get positive energies in return. It's akin to [illegible word]a rock into a pool of water. Energy positive [two illegible words] send out has the potential [three illegible words] and [two illegible words] this way, your life will [illegible word] expand and [illegible word].("Her Handsome Hero")

The "cone of energy" is a reference to the cone of power, a method of raising energy in ritual magic. Traditionally, this is done by a group, although it can also be done without the assistance of other people. As energy is raised, a cone forms above the wielder(s). When the magic reaches its apex, that energy is sent out en masse, directed towards whatever magical purpose is being worked on.[83]

The principle of magic energies being returned to the wielder three-fold, is a reference to the Rule of Three, a tenet held by people in some magical traditions, primarily Wiccans. It states that whatever energy a person puts out into the world, be it positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times.,[84]

↑Nguyen, Hanh (Matrch 8, 2015). Oh Baby! Once Upon a Time Star and Bosses Weigh In on Maleficent's Big Loss. TV Guide. “"It's so much fun to play somebody who has time on her side in that she's immortal," Bauer van Straten says. "She doesn't have to rush for her revenge. Killing someone in this realm, this isn't a John Wayne sort of revenge. This is like, 'I will take my time and I will watch how things develop and I will figure out how to keep the pain happening as long as possible.'”